Hastings Snack Bar – 5 Hastings Ave, Toronto, ON M4L 2L1
Country: Poland 
Must-try dish: Meat Cabbage Roll
Dinner guests: Pornstar Sam
Seating: Indoor and outdoor seating. 
The high: The owner cooks all the food, and it’s amazing to feel as though you’re in her kitchen. 
The low: It closes before dinner-time, so go for lunch and make dinner plans elsewhere. 

Whether you want to take advantage of the leafy canopied front patio, or enjoy the eclectic decor inside, you’ll be happy wherever you sit to eat Hasting Snack Bar’s delicious Polish cuisine. It was always a “snack bar” of sorts, but seven years ago the restaurant changed hands evolving from a Chinese takeaway to a Polish one that is a dine-in restaurant today too. 

The current owner is a Polish woman who does all of the cooking, and her husband helps on the sidelines with deliveries and manual labour. The guy running the front of the house is a sassy character that enhances the dining experience if you let him. All in all, it’s a terrific operation between the food, the atmosphere, and the people.  

On a sunny summer afternoon, it was a no-brainer to sit under the awning of trees on the patio with a cold Zywiec beer that goes down particularly well with pierogis. It seemed like a lot of people had the same idea as us – meeting friends outside for a good meal. Hastings Snack Bar has a loyal following in the neighbourhood, and they’re constantly busy no matter the day of the week or the time of year. 

In a group of three people, most of the lunch menu can be tackled without over-eating. All the dishes came out quickly and at the same time. So there were a lot of decisions to make about what to taste first. 

As the saying goes, save the best for last, we actually did it the other way around. We started with the Meat Cabbage Roll – was it ever worth it. If you love cabbage rolls, this may be the best you’ve ever had, and if you’re new to the cabbage roll phenomenon, then go to Hastings Snack Bar immediately to order one. The pork and beef minced meat is seasoned then wrapped in cabbage that’s swimming in tangy tomato sauce. One roll is $10, while two are $18. It’s pretty obvious here that you would go big or go home. 

Next up is the Polish Kielbasa that comes with sauteed onions, sauerkraut, and a pickle. This sausage is flavourful without being spicy. It’s thicker than most, making it easy to cut up and share between three people. 

There’s a daily special that changes. On the day that we ate at Hastings Snack Bar, it was a Chicken Schnitzel Sandwich. This dish was a little tougher to cut up and share but we made it there in the end. The thin breaded piece of chicken is lightly seasoned and stuffed in the middle of a fresh kaiser bun. Since there isn’t a regular schnitzel dish on the menu, this was a pleasant addition to the rest of the dishes. 

There’s always a massive anticipation for the pierogi course of the meal when eating Polish food. There are four fillings to pick from here that take into account the vegetarians, the carnivores, and the cheese lovers.  

The Traditional Pierogis are hard to beat – cottage cheese and potatoes stuffed dumplings. While the S + M Pierogis sounds less appealing, they were also a favourite of the bunch. These ones are filled with a seasoned sauerkraut and mushroom mix that make it hard to stop at just one bite. The Canadian Pierogis must have been named for a reason, perhaps it’s the most popular filling here in Canada? This is a flavour duo that’s difficult not to love – cheddar cheese and potato. Finally, the Meat Pierogis are a seasoned blend of minced beef and pork. Every order comes with sour cream and fried onions. 

The savoury pierogis were so great that we decided to try the Sweet Pierogis that are stuffed with fruit and served with a sweet cream for dipping. They come in a serving of four, eight, or twelve with the option for blueberry, strawberry, or cherry, all of which are worth every bite. 

We appreciated how accommodating the service was at the restaurant. As a trio, we were able to get portions to suit three people instead of two or four. We did have to cut certain things up but we were able to have one of each pierogi flavour without any hassle. Between the service, the decor, and the food, it felt like nothing could go wrong here. 

Eat with you soon,

Mandrea Bike
( Mat & Andrea)